The History of Hilton Studio

Hilton Studio has built up an enviable reputation as a respected craft studio creating beautifully crafted, timeless and sophisticated tributes and memorials. Established in 1955 from a terraced house in the heart of Birmingham, founder Alfred C Foley worked his way to eminence as a calligraphy teacher and successful businessman.

His dream was to establish a centre of excellence for manuscript production and bookbinding and it is those dreams we strive to uphold today. We are proud to continue in his legacy and pay careful attention to the selection and preparation of the materials we use. In fact we still use methods developed over the years in order to obtain the quality required for our products.

Alfred was the last calligraphy teacher at Margaret Street College of Art in Birmingham and it was inspired craftsmanship that opened the closed doors of the then Cremation Movement and gave him the opportunity to gain commissions for book of remembrance design, manufacture and inscription.

A stream of beautiful books of remembrance was made for local authorities from the north of Scotland to the west of Wales and eventually South Africa, Sweden and Canada. By the late 70s more than one hundred crematoria had chosen Hilton Studio.

Alfred Foley, now considering retirement, chose to reform the partnership into a wholly family-owned company based on the Hilton Cabinet Company, established in 1964. In 1978, Alfred’s son Stephen entered the business, having spent his childhood brought up in the studio crafts. He became managing director, a post he still keeps, and this marked a new era of fresh ideas.

Alfred's Dream

Alfred's dream was to establish a centre of excellence for manuscript production and bookbinding and it is those dreams we strive to uphold today. We are proud to continue in his legacy and pay careful attention to the selection and preparation of the materials we use. In fact we still use methods developed over the years in order to obtain the quality required for our products.